The Economist - USA (2020-08-01)

36 TheEconomistAugust 1st 2020

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zaz hasexperienced quite the turn-

around. The city in northern Syria was

once controlled by Islamic State (is), which

continued to terrorise it even after leaving

in 2014. That is when other jihadists and re-

bels swooped in. Today, though, Turkey is

calling the shots. It keeps the lights on and

supplies the local shops. The list of Turkish

projects under construction ranges from

schools and universities to hospitals and

roads. “The infrastructure is better than be-

fore the revolution,” says an architect who

is building new housing as part of another

Turkish project.

Turkey is expanding its footprint across

the Arab world, using force more than di-

plomacy. In the past year it has occupied

north-eastern Syria, punched deep into

Iraq and intervened in Libya’s civil war. Its

military spending has increased by nearly

half since 2016.

Yet Turkey’s strongman, Recep Tayyip

Erdogan, does not appear to have an all-en-

compassing vision for the region. Rather

he is pursuing Turkey’s economic interests

and dealing with perceived threats—some-

times by violating the borders of other

countries. Thus is he fulfilling a promise

made four years ago to “go and confront

[problems] wherever they nest”.

Turkey is no newcomer to the Middle

East. Its predecessor, the Ottoman empire,

ruled the region for 500 years, until Euro-

pean powers rolled it back. More recently it

has exerted cultural and economic influ-

ence, especially through Turkish soap op-

eras and construction projects. After the

Arab spring of 2011 brought Islamist move-

ments to the fore, Mr Erdogan promoted

Turkey as a model of Islamist governance—

and himself as leader of the Muslim world.

As the Islamists were pushed back (or

crushed) and Western powers lost interest

in the region, Turkey grew more assertive.

Start in Syria, where Turkey has long

backed the rebels trying to topple Bashar al-

Assad’s regime. They have all but lost, but

Turkey continues to protect the areas still

under their control in the north-west. It

does not want another flood of refugees to

cross its border, so it has tried to stabilise

the region—further digging in. It trains po-

lice, funds a civil service and has replaced

the Syrian pound with the steadier Turkish

lira. In cities such as Azaz it is building rap-

idly. Backers of Mr Erdogan suggest that

this is an investment for the long run.

Turkey has been even bolder in the part

of northern Syria once controlled by the

main local Kurdish force, the People’s Pro-

tection Units (ypg). The ypggrabbed a large

swathe of territory while helping America

defeat is. But the ypghas close ties with the

Kurdistan Workers’ Party (pkk), a separat-

ist Kurdish group in Turkey. So when

America pulled out in October, Turkish

troops moved in, backed by local Arab re-

bels. Together they pushed the Kurds out of

much of their statelet. Turkey now occu-

pies a 30km-deep strip in Syria extending

Turkey and the Arab world

Ottoman redux

ISTANBUL

In ever more places Turkey is showing its strength

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